UNION, Mo. (KMOX) – Four men have been charged in a Franklin County truck theft ring that authorities say has stolen at least 24 vehicles in the last few months.
Sheriff Gary Toelke tells KMOX News they’ve been taking large trucks to transport walnut logs.
“There’s, I guess, a big demand for walnut logs now, or walnut lumber, and we’ve found where they’ve been going onto private properties on some really remote areas,” Toelke says. “It takes a pretty heavy-duty truck, and they don’t have them themselves, so they just go out and steal ’em.”
Toelke says they’ve even been stealing wreckers, which they would use “to load up the logs onto the trucks and transport to various saw mills.”
He says they would sell the logs for money they would use to buy drugs.
As for the trucks, Toelke says the thieves wouldn’t hang onto them for very long.
“They usually just sell them for scrap, cut them up. I think one or two of them were burned,” he says.
So far, 43-year-old Jerry Courtway of Richwoods is charged with vehicle theft and property damage. Brian Jones, 33, of St. Clair is charged with vehicle theft, tampering with a witness and property damage. Michael Smith, 32, of St. Clair is charged with receiving stolen property marijuana possession and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. Roger Sohn, 33, of St. Clair is charged with drug trafficking, possession of a controlled substance, receiving stolen property and resisting arrest.
Police say all have been part of previous narcotics investigations.
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Follow us on Twitter | Like us on Facebook
